JUST IN: National Hurricane Center Gives Updates As Hurricane Beryl Barrels Towards Texas Coast

5 months ago

On Saturday, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan provided updates on Hurricane Beryl.

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Transcript

00:00Everybody, good afternoon. This is Mike Brennan here at the National Hurricane Center. It's just

00:03after 4 p.m. Central Time on Saturday, July 6th. Coming on with the latest on Tropical Storm

00:08Beryl. The big news here and our latest forecast and advisory coming out for the National Hurricane

00:12Center is we've now issued storm surge and hurricane warnings for portions of the Texas

00:17coast. We'll get to details on that in just a minute. But Beryl continues to be a tropical

00:21storm this afternoon with maximum sustained winds of about 60 miles per hour. Now moving off a little

00:25more to the northwest at 13 miles per hour centered about 385 miles southeast of Corpus

00:31Christi, Texas. And Beryl is going to continue moving northwestward and then turn northward

00:36and approach the coast of Texas within the hurricane and storm surge warning areas overnight

00:41Sunday night and into early Monday morning. Actually, you can see on the radar now some

00:45of the outer rain bands associated with Beryl in the offshore waters out over the Gulf of Mexico.

00:50We've seen some heavy rainfall also developed in portions of southeast Texas this afternoon,

00:54setting the stage for what's going to be a prolonged heavy rainfall event across much of

00:58the Texas Gulf Coast and into east Texas into portions of next week. So let's talk first about

01:04the storm surge. We've got a storm surge warning that's now been issued from the north entrance

01:08of the South Padre Island National Seashore all the way up to San Luis Pass. That includes places

01:13like Corpus Christi Bay, Mesquite Bay, Matagorda Bay. We are looking at the danger of life-threatening

01:18inundation from storm surge everywhere you see in this dark purple area. And if we get to the

01:24expected storm surge inundation that we're going to see in here, somewhere between Mesquite Bay and

01:28Sargent, including Matagorda Bay, we expect to see four to six feet of inundation above ground level

01:34in this area. So this is the area we're most concerned about, but also could see expecting

01:38to see three to five feet from Sargent up to San Luis Pass and also south of Mesquite Bay down to

01:42the north entrance of the South Padre Island National Seashore. We also have a storm surge

01:47watch in effect up in Galveston Bay where we could see two to four feet of inundation in that region

01:53and also up the Sabine Pass near the Texas Louisiana border. So again, potential for widespread

01:59storm surge inundation with barrel as the system makes landfall Sunday night and Monday morning.

02:04That's when we're going to see those highest water levels. So if you live in these storm surge

02:08warning areas, know if you live in a storm surge evacuation zone, you may be asked to leave or a

02:13voluntary evacuation requested by your local officials. Please comply with any evacuation

02:18orders you have through tonight and through most of the day tomorrow to get to a safe place

02:22out of that storm surge evacuation zone. And so again, have that evacuation plan in place,

02:27and this is a time to put it into motion if you've been asked to do so by your local officials.

02:31On the wind front, we've now issued a hurricane warning from Baffin Bay up to Sargent with a

02:38tropical storm warning now from north of Sargent up to High Island and south of Baffin Bay down to

02:44the mouth of the Rio Grande and into northeastern Mexico. We are expecting barrel to reach a more

02:50favorable environment and restrengthen to a hurricane by tomorrow and then continue

02:55strengthening as it approaches the Texas coast tomorrow night and early Monday. And again,

03:01anywhere in this hurricane warning area, you have to prepare as if you're going to experience

03:04hurricane force winds, you know, when you want to put shutters up, tie down anything loose outside,

03:11gather anything, secure your home. This is the time to get that done. You're going to have during

03:15most of the day tomorrow into at least of the early afternoon hours before those tropical

03:19storm conditions arrive. But again, you just have a few hours left, less than a day to get ready for

03:24this event. And you don't want to pay too much attention to the exact track forecast. There's

03:28a reason we put up this hurricane warning here for this wide area. If the storm makes a little

03:32bit to a left turn, it's going to come in farther down the lower Texas coast, a little right turn.

03:36It's going to come up closer to that San Luis Pass area. So everywhere in here needs to prepare.

03:41It won't take much of a change in the eventual track of the center to bring those hurricane

03:45conditions on shore anywhere in that hurricane warning area. Now, again, looking at the timing

03:51farther south, we could see those tropical storm force conditions begin during the day Sunday,

03:55been up by late Sunday afternoon, early Sunday evening within that hurricane warning area.

04:01And then advancing inland, there is an inland risk of tropical storm conditions

04:06across portions of south of the mid Texas coast and into Southeast Texas as well. So be on the

04:10lookout for any tropical storm watches or warnings issued for inland areas there.

04:15Next, we'll move on to the rainfall. Rainfall is going to be a big story with Beryl as the

04:19system moves inland, and it's going to bring very heavy rainfall to portions of the Texas Gulf Coast,

04:24especially near where landfall occurs. And also much of East Texas as the system moves

04:28slowly north, northeastward inland over the day during the day Monday and into Tuesday and even

04:33into Wednesday, we could see widespread rainfall totals of five to 10 inches across this region,

04:38with isolated totals as high as 15 inches across portions of eastern Texas.

04:44And so that's very concerning from a flooding perspective. We're most concerned about this

04:48area here as we get into the day on Monday. That includes Houston, Palestine, Bryan College

04:53Station, Victoria, down from that area where Beryl is likely to make landfall up along the

04:58track of the center. That's where we have a level three out of four risk for flash flooding. So,

05:02again, if you're in a flood prone area, even well inland, the winds don't really matter when you

05:07get that far inland. As far as the rainfall being a big threat, it's regardless of how strong the

05:11storm is from a wind perspective. So be on the lookout for flood watches and warnings that could

05:15be issued for your area. Know where you're going to go, how you're going to keep yourself safe if

05:20you live in a flood prone area and water begins to rise where you are. Onto the tornado front,

05:25we have a risk of tornadoes starting late Sunday into Sunday night, especially along much of the

05:31Texas Gulf Coast from the Houston-Galveston area all the way down to Corpus Christi

05:35in the right front quadrant of Beryl's circulation as those rain bands begin to move onshore.

05:40We could see tornadoes and tropical storm and hurricane rain bands can spin up very quickly

05:45and can be damaging in some cases. So you're going to, again, want to have multiple ways to

05:49get emergency information and weather alerts anywhere in these hurricanes, storm surge warning

05:54areas. Make sure you have a NOAA weather radio, wireless emergency alerts turned on on your phone

05:59so that you have a way, especially overnight if there's a tornado or flash flood warning issued

06:03for your area, that you have a way to be alerted and you can get to safety. I do want to, again,

06:08touch on the rip current risk. This is a big risk along the entire Gulf of Mexico coast, not just

06:13along the Texas coast, but all the way over to the Florida coast, including the Florida Panhandle,

06:19the Florida West Coast, Mississippi, Alabama beaches. Rip currents are going to be along much

06:25of the Gulf Coast already beginning today, continuing through the rest of the weekend

06:29into early next week. So please heed any advice or those warning flags at the beach and please

06:34stay out of the water if the ocean does not appear safe. So we'll wrap up here with some key messages.

06:39We have that danger of life-threatening storm surge all the way from the north entrance of the

06:44South Padre Island National Seashore up to San Luis Pass. There's the expectation of hurricane

06:49force winds occurring somewhere in that hurricane warning area from Baffin Bay to Sargent. So if

06:54you're in those areas, pay attention to any advice you're given by your local officials and rush those

06:59preparations to protect your life and property to completion. We are expecting flash and urban

07:04flooding, some of which could be pretty considerable across portions of the Texas Gulf

07:08Coast and eastern Texas as we go from Sunday through the middle of next week with river flooding also

07:13possible. I do want to finally mention that risk of rip currents along much of the Gulf Coast.

07:19So during the next 24 to 36 hours, 48 hours, let's keep checking in for the latest updates on

07:25Beryl from here at the National Hurricane Center at hurricanes.gov. You can find your local National

07:30Weather Service office at weather.gov and find information local to your area, including all the

07:35watches and warnings that are in effect. And again, just a reminder, have multiple ways to get emergency

07:39information through NOAA Weather Radio, wireless emergency alerts on your phone or our smartphone

07:44apps as well. So again, we'll keep checking in with you from here at the National Hurricane Center

07:49through the day tomorrow and Monday as we deal with Beryl's expected landfall along the Texas

07:54Coast as a hurricane. I'm Mike Brennan. Thanks for joining us from here at the National Hurricane Center.

JUST IN: National Hurricane Center Gives Updates As Hurricane Beryl Barrels Towards Texas Coast

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